StLJN 2014 year in review

As the clock winds down on the last day of 2014, it's time to review the past year's worth of stories here on StLJN.

This year, however, instead of listing what subjectively seemed like the most significant stories from each month during the year, I went directly to the page-view statistics to determine the 30 most-read stories on St. Louis Jazz Notes over the past 12 months.

A few things to note: Because the recurring "Jazz this week" and "So What: Local News, Notes & Links" news roundup posts typically deal with multiple subjects, they've been excluded from the list. However, Saturday Video Showcase posts were included, the thinking being that readership of those is an indication of which artists may be of greatest interest to StLJN readers.

As for the stories that did make the list, most got attention for what seem like fairly obvious reasons. For example, it's axiomatic in the media business that bad news tends to attract the most eyeballs, which would account for the interest in the year's most-read story, about the untimely death of Richard McDonnell, the popular founder of MAXJAZZ Records, as well as the presence on the list of obituaries for trumpeter Floyd Leflore, pianist and historian Trebor Tichenor, and keyboardist Tony Simmons.

However, readers were interested in good news, too, as word that drummer and former St. Louisan Kimberly Thompson had gotten a high-profile gig on a network TV show ranked as the year's second-most read story.

Further reflecting an optimistic attitude, stories about a couple of new venues for jazz and the return of a dormant concert series also made the Top 30 list. (Sadly, though, none of the nascent efforts seem to have made it to year-end, as the Engine Room switched to rock just a few weeks after opening; the Ozark Theatre canceled several shows in November and then went silent in December; and no further concerts were announced by the Nu-Art Series.)

As you'd expect, readers also were interested in learning more about touring bands and musicians coming to town, which accounts for the popularity of video showcase posts featuring Rudresh Mahanthappa, Joshua Abrams, and several other individual artists, as well as the frequent viewership of various parts of StLJN's seasonal video previews.

Perhaps the biggest surprise for me is that none of the three posts dealing with one of the year's major stories -  the opening of an expanded performance space and headquarters for Jazz St. Louis -  made the top ten. (A post recapping national coverage of the grand opening did make it to #15.)  The logical conclusion would seem to be that since the opening was covered extensively by local media who don't usually pay attention to jazz, readers had less of a need for StLJN's coverage.

Of course, after a week of fawning stories about how the new facility would change the entire St. Louis music scene for the better, pretty much all of those reporters and media outlets went right back to completely ignoring jazz, as they usually do.

Not to worry, though - while the attention spans of other media may be limited to what they can fit into 90 seconds on TV, and their interest in the music limited to mere lip service, readers in 2015 will continue to find comprehensive, ongoing coverage of jazz in St. Louis right here on St. Louis Jazz Notes.

And now, here are StLJN's most-read stories of 2014:

1) Richard McDonnell 1946-2014
2) Kimberly Thompson to drum with house band for NBC's Late Night With Seth Meyers
3) Engine Room revs up first month's schedule 
4) Floyd LeFlore, trumpeter and co-founder of Black Artists Group, dead at age 74 
5) New Music Circle 2014-15 season to include Roscoe Mitchell & Craig Taborn, Tim Berne, Thumbscrew, and more
6) Trebor Tichenor 1940 - 2014
7) (tie) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Rudresh Mahanthappa's Gamak 
7) (tie) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Joshua Abrams' Natural Information Society 
9) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Six from Poncho Sanchez 
10) "Mistaken identity" causes confusion for Casa Loma Ballroom

11) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2014 jazz preview, pt 5
12) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2014 jazz preview, part 1
13) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2014 jazz preview, part 4 
14) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2014 jazz preview, part 3
15) New Jazz St. Louis HQ makes national news
16) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Patrice Rushen
17) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2014 jazz preview, pt 4
18) Tony Simmons 1963-2014
19) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Terence Blanchard returns to The Sheldon
20) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Mwata Bowden

21) Jason Swagler & Adaron Jackson to release Map of The World on Tuesday, January 28
22) Commentary: The Trouble in Ferguson
23) Spyro Gyra, Mindi Abair to perform Saturday, August 30 at Chesterfield Amphitheater 
24) (tie) Review: David Sanborn at Jazz at the Bistro 
24) (tie) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Summer 2014 jazz film festival, part three
26) Bull of Heaven performing at LNAC this Saturday, August 2
27) Marcus Roberts Trio to perform for "Evening of Hope" benefit on Thursday, May 8 at The Sheldon 
28) Get free tickets to this weekend's screenings of new Clark Terry documentary
29) Nu-Art Series returning with three concerts this spring
30) Ozark Theatre to begin new jazz series this weekend with Randy Holmes, Carolbeth True

Edited after posting to fix a formatting problem.

Jazz this week: New Year's Eve and more

While the usual holiday-season dearth of touring jazz acts continues, St. Louis' own jazz and creative musicians nevertheless will be taking to local stages this week to celebrate New Year's Eve and subsequently usher in the first weekend of 2015. Here's what's on the schedule...

Wednesday, December 31
The annual First Night St. Louis will feature several bands and musicians of interest to StLJN readers, including both trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's quartet and pianist/singer Jesse Gannon at the Kranzberg Arts Center; the Funky Butt Brass Band at Sheldon Concert Hall; bassist Bob DeBoo & Friends at St. Xavier College Church (at Grand and Lindell); and The People's Key playing music from their "Jazz Memories of Michael Jackson" show at Third Baptist Church.

Unfortunately, these sets are timed and spaced so that it will be difficult to catch more than two of them during the evening, but of course, First Night also offers a variety of other performances and activities as part of the package. For details, see the event program on their website.

Elsewhere around town on New Year's Eve, singer Tony Viviano will return to the Four Seasons Wine House in Chesterfield; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play the "1920s Bootlegger's VooDoo Ball" at Evangeline's in the Central West End; and singer Erin Bode will do two shows at Cyrano's in Webster Groves.

Also, the St. Louis Big Band will perform for a dinner and dance at St. Matthias the Apostle Catholic Church, 800 Buckley Rd in South County; trumpeter Randy Holmes' quintet will share a bill with singers Ron Wilkinson and Mary Dyson and their band at Voce downtown; and trumpeter Jim Manley and keyboardist Arthur Toney will duet at Riverbend, which recently relocated to the space formerly occupied by Harvest at 1059 S. Big Bend Blvd in Richmond Heights.

Friday, January 2
Though perhaps still nursing hangovers, assessing damage, and/or attempting to settle assorted legal disputes and moral conundrums arising in the aftermath of their annual "Holiday Brasstravanganza," the Funky Butt Brass Band, showbiz troopers that they are, will check in for the first of two nights of semi-organized revelry at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Friday, singer Wendy Gordon will perform her last monthly gig at DeLeo's Cafe & Deli, which is closing at the end of January; and Lindy Hop St. Louis will present their monthly "West End Stomp" swing dance at the Mahler Ballroom.

Saturday, January 3
The Sidemen will play swing and hot jazz at Evangeline's, while keyboardist Matt Villinger will enlist some old friends including vibraphonist Peter Schlamb for a "Cool Jazz Party" at Thurman Grill.

Also on Saturday, David Parker and Greg Mills' Society for Creative Survival presents "T 4 tú," an evening of duo performances at the Tavern of Fine Arts featuring Mills, Parker, Tracy Andreotti, Henry Claude, Ajay Khanna, Dave Stone, Fred Tompkins, and Joshua Weinstein.

Sunday, January 4
Singer and guitarist Tommy Halloran takes over the musical duties for the weekly Sunday brunch at Jazz at the Bistrountil further notice; and then later in the day, the Dave Dickey Big Band will return for the second gig in their new monthly series at the Bistro, with the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars student ensemble performing at intermission.

With both month-end and year-end fast approaching, StLJN HQ still is receiving info from musicians and venues about upcoming gigs in January, so for more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please check back and visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Music Education Monday: All about that bass

For this week's Music Education Monday, we're getting down low with some bass-related videos and links, starting with "Story of the Bass," an brief but entertaining video history of the instrument, courtesy of bassist Michael Thurber and Collective Cadenza, an NYC group that creates "musical video experiments."

Below that, you'll find a video of a master class with Ron Carter, touted as the most-recorded jazz bassist in history and a major figure in the music since he first came to wide attention as a member of Miles Davis' 1960s quintet.

The class was presented in 2011 to students at Loyola University in New Orleans, and while Carter may be speaking specifically about bass playing, a lot of what he says about music and being a musician applies to any instrument.

Of course, musicians don't learn by YouTube videos alone, and though a lot of sites offering online tips or music lessons function essentially as promotions designed to up-sell method books, private lessons, CDs, DVDs and the like, there are some that offer some substance, too.

One is Berklee College of Music's Berklee Shares site, which has a variety of free educational materials for various instruments, including a page devoted to bass lessons and tips that seems to merit more than a cursory look.

Also worth digging into is the "Tips" section of CarolKaye.com, the personal site of the famed session bassist. While it's not especially well-organized or indexed, there's a wealth of detailed material there in Kaye's responses to questions from students and fans.

Miles on Monday: Live in Paris, 1969

For the final "Miles on Monday" of 2014, we take a trip back in time to November 3, 1969.

That's the date that Davis, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Chick Corea, bassist Dave Holland, and drummer Jack DeJohnette performed two shows at La Salle Playel in Paris, France, showcasing material that would appear on Davis' forthcoming double LP Bitches Brew.

The album, released in April of the following year, proved to be one of Davis' most popular and influential recordings. While there are some compositions repeated between the two shows, seen in the two embedded video windows below, there are enough differences in the performances that staunch Davis fans definitely will want to watch both of them.

Sunday Session: December 28, 2014

Sun Ra

For your Sunday reading enjoyment and edification, some noteworthy news stories from the past week about jazz, creative music, and more:

* 7 Visionary Women Who Paved The Way For Electronic Music (Champion Up North)
* Interview with Jason Moran (Film Music)
* Thailand’s ‘Gong Highway’ (New York Times)
* Café Society: Swing Historical music diluted by a history lesson (Jazz Times)
* Threadgill, with Zooid Quintet, Finds New Voice at Brooklyn Performance (Down Beat)
* Whiplash: Two Thumbs Down (George Colligan)
* 'Birdman' Score Drummed Out Of Oscars As Academy Rejects Filmmaker's Appeal (Deadline.com)
* Market for vinyl albums grows in Columbia and nationwide (Columbia Daily Tribune)
* Key Change: American Jazz Musicians Witness History in Cuba (NBC)
* Why 2015 will be the end of an era in music (Quartz.com)
* Our Times: The Louis Armstrong childhood arrest that no one knew about (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
* Sun Ra Memories by John Sinclair (Iron Man Records)
* This orchestra is made from lamps and electricity (Wired UK)
* Iyer Caps Banner Year with Dynamic Concert at Brooklyn Academy of Music (Down Beat)
* Buddy DeFranco: The Clarinetist Who Swung To Bebop (NPR.org)
* The Night Before Christmas (The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong)
* A Sun Ra Christmas: Hear His 1976 Radio Broadcast of Poetry and Music (OpenCulture.com)

Rounding up the "Best Jazz of 2014" lists

It's that time of year again, as jazz journalists, DJs, critics, and bloggers are publishing their annual "Best Of" lists. And once again, for the eighth consecutive year, St. Louis Jazz Notes eschews the compilation of such a list, instead offering a meta-list with links to all of the other "Best Jazz of 2014" lists we can locate.

As in the past, the meta-list is alphabetized by writers' names. When a list was collaborative or presented as a staff-written project, the name of the publication or media outlet is used instead, with the writers' names noted if available. This post will be updated multiple times over the next several weeks as more lists become available. Here's what's out there so far:

* 100 Greatest Jazz Albums - The Top 20 best jazz albums of the past year
* A Closer Listen - Top Ten Modern Composition; Top Ten Field Recording & Soundscape; Top Ten Experimental; Top Ten Drone
* S. Victor Aaron, Something Else - Best of 2014 - Modern + Mainstream Jazz; Avant Garde + Experimental Jazz;; Fusion Jazz
* Judy Adams, The Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe Blog - Top Ten List for 2014 – A Definitive Guide to This Year’s Best Jazz Recordings
* David R. Adler, The Village Voice - Top 10 Jazz Albums of 2014
* Album of The Year - Best Jazz Fusion Albums of 2014; Users' Highest Rated Jazz Fusion Albums of 2014
* AllAboutJazz.com - Top 25 MP3 Downloads: 2014; Top 12 "Most Read" Album Reviews; Top 12 "Most Recommended" Album Reviews; Top 12 "Most Read" and "Most Recommended" Articles; Top 15 "Most Read" Interviews; The Year In Jazz
* AllAboutJazz.com (Italian edition) - Best of 2014/I Dischi Del 2014
* AllMusic.com - Best of 2014: Favorite Jazz Albums
* Larry Appelbaum, Let's Cool One/Jazz Times - 2014 Favorites
* Bridget Arnwine, Examiner.com - Best jazz recordings of 2014
* Avant Music News - Best of 2014
* Hector Aviles, Latino Music Cafe - Best Latin Music of 2014
* Peter Bacon, The Jazz Breakfast - Festive 50
* Jung Bae, HelloKPop.com - 2014 in Review: Day 8 – Jazz and Blues
* Jakob Baekgaard, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2014
* David Becker, AXS - Highlights (and one sad bit) from 2014 in Bay Area jazz
* C. Michael Bailey, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Recordings of 2014
* Phil Barnes, AllAboutJazz.com - Favourite Albums of 2014
* Chris Barton, Los Angeles Times - Best jazz albums of 2014 
* Adam Baruch, Polish Jazz - Top Ten 2014
* Dan Bilawsky, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2014
* Larry Blumenfeld, Blu Notes/Wall Street Journal - Best Jazz Of 2014
* Philip Booth, Jazz Lands - Best Jazz of 2014: Tom Harrell, Chick Corea, Frank Kimbrough, Snarky Puppy & more
* Cisco Bradley, Jazz Right Now - Best Albums of 2014
* Richard Brody, The New Yorker - The Best Jazz Reissues of 2014
* Albert Brooks, Nippertown - Top 11 Albums
* Bill Brownlee, Plastic Sax - Top Albums of 2014; Top Performances of 2014; The Top Jazz-Related Stories and Trends of 2014
* Chris Burnett, Musings In Cb - My Favorite Recordings Released in 2014
* Robert Bush, KNSD/AllAboutJazz.com - Sweet 16: Top SD Jazz Concerts of 2014; Best of 2014
* CapitalBop (Luke Stewart & Giovanni Russonello) - Top 5 Albums of 2014
* Capital Public Radio (Sacramento, CA) - Top Five Jazz Albums of 2014
* David Cazares, Minnesota Public Radio - Jazz favorites of 2014
* Chicago Reader - Our favorite music of 2014
* "The Checkout," WGBO - Lehman, Jarenwattananon & Rentner's "Best Of" 2014 CDs
* Nate Chinen, New York Times - Top Albums of 2014, With Beyoncé, Fred Hersch Trio and More
* Dan Coffey, Avant Music News - Top Albums of 2014
* "The Colin McEnroe Show," WNPR - Best Jazz of 2014
* Troy Collins, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2014
* James Cooper (aka firstcitybook), Red Moon Cafe - Jazz Favorites for 2014
* Thomas Cunniffe, Jazz History Online -  2014: The Summation
* Curt Davenport, Curt's Jazz Cafe - Best Jazz Albums of 2014
* Clive Davis, Sunday Times - Top ten jazz albums for 2014 (via jazzfm.com)
* Anthony Dean-Harris, Nextbop - Favorite Jazz Releases of 2014
* Nick DeRiso, Something Else - Best of 2014 (Blues, R&B + Jazz)
* Zlatan Dimitrijevic, Jazzin.rs - The Best of 2014 
* Down Beat - Best Albums of 2014
* Tony Dudley-Evans, The Jazz Breakfast -  My 10 favourite gigs of the year
* Jeff Duperon, WRTI - Top 20 Jazz CDs of 2014
* Grego Applegate Edwards, Gapplegate Music Review - Records of the Year, 2014
* Pamela Espelund, Bebopified - Our two cents in the 2014 Twin Cities Music Critics Tally, with reasons why
* John Fenton, JazzLocal32 - Jazz stories that need retelling (2014) 
* The Free Jazz Collective - Albums of the Year - 2014; Happy New Ears Award 2014
* Phil Freeman, Burning Ambulance - Best Jazz of 2014
* Jon Garelick, Boston Globe - 2014 best jazz album picks
* Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - Top jazz albums of 2014
* Ted Gioia, The Daily Beast - The Best Albums of 2014
* Kurt Gottschalk, AllAboutJazz.com - Top 12 for 2014
* Ben Gray, Nextbop.com - Favorite Jazz Releases of 2014
* George Grella, The Big City - Best Jazz Albums of 2014; The Brooklyn Rail - My Year In Music
* James Hale, Down Beat/Jazz Chronicles - Top CDs of 2014
* Eric Harland, drummer & SFJAZZ artistic director - Top 5 of 2014
* John Hendrix,  Hubert on the Air (L1, The Netherlands) - Best of Jazz 2014
* Lyn Horton, The Paradigm for Beauty - Top Ten, 2014
* C. Andrew Hovan, AllAboutJazz.com - Top 10 for 2014
* Tom Hull, Tom Hull on the Web - The Best Jazz Albums of 2014
* Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen - 2014 Jazz List Bliss
* J Hunter, Nippertown/WVCR - Best Jazz Albums, Part I; Part II; Top 10 Concerts (And More)
* Jazz Journal (UK) - Critic's Poll 2014 (.pdf)
* Jazz Journalists Association - 2014 Best of Jazz lists
* Jazzonline.gr - Critics Poll 2014
* Jazz Times - Top 50 CDs: Individual Ballots - Our contributors' lists of the best releases of 2014; Critics Poll 2014
* Willard Jenkins, Open Sky Jazz - Favorite 2014 Sightings
* David Brent Johnson, WFIU - Best Historical Jazz Releases 2014
* Bojan Jovic, Jazzin.rs - The Best of 2014 
* Fred Kaplan, Slate/Stereophile - The Best Jazz Albums of 2014, Plus the best reissues
* John Kelman, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2014; Best Live Shows of 2014
* KSDS Jazz 88.3 (Claudia Russell & Joe Kocherhans) - Top Ten Discs of 2014
* Charles L. Latimer, I Dig Jazz - Drum Roll Please, I Dig Jazz Top Ten Jazz Albums of 2014
* Bo Leibowitz, KCRW - Top Albums of 2014
* Bruce Lindsay, AllAboutJazz.com - Favorite Albums Of 2014
* London Jazz News - Jazz Musicians of 2014; Jazz Musicians of 2014 (Under 35); The Jazz Moments To Treasure Of 2014; Jazz Wishes for 2015
* Tomek Łuczak, Polish Jazz - Top Ten 2014
* Mateusz Magierowski, Polish Jazz - Top Ten 2014
* Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader - My favorite jazz albums of 2014
* Dan McClenaghan, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2014
* Andrew McDonald, PopMatters - The Best Avant-Garde and Experimental Albums of 2014
* Bob "Radio Bob" McWilliams, Kansas Public Radio - Best Jazz CDs of 2014
* Jay Miller, Quincy (MA) Patriot Ledger - Jazz is alive and well, with hot new, and old, talent
* Chris Monsen, Perfect Sounds - 2014: favorites – getting there
* NewMusicBox - 2014 Staff Picks
* New York Times - The Year in Jazz (podcast MP3)
* Jessica Nicholas, ABC Jazz - Best of 2014
* Nextbop/Art of Cool - Favorite Jazz Releases of 2014
* Tim Niland, Music and More - Francis Davis 8th Annual Jazz Critics Poll
* NorthernJazzLive (UK) - Best gigs of 2014! (1); (2); (3); (4); (5); (6)
* Rick Nowlin, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Best Jazz Concert: Spyro Gyra
* Maciej Nowotny, Polish Jazz - Top Ten 2014
* NPR Music - 2014 Jazz Critics Poll; An Upset Either Way, Steve Lehman and Wadada Leo Smith Triumph
* Vojislav Pantic, Jazzin.rs - The Best of 2014
* Pitchfork.com (Grayson Haver Currin & Mark Masters) - Experimental Artists of the Year 2014
* Denis Poole, Smooth Jazz Therapy - Top Twenty Of 2014
* PopJazzRadio.com - Pop Jazz Best of 2014
* PopMatters.com (Will Layman & John Garratt) - The Best Jazz of 2014
* Craig Premo, Improvised - The Top Jazz Releases of 2014
* Proper Music - Best Jazz of 2014
* Ben Ratliff, New York Times - Top 10 Albums and Songs of 2014
* Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune - Henry Butler, Regina Carter, Orbert Davis among the year's best in jazz; For Chicago jazz lovers, it was a very good year
* Revive Music - Top 15 Songs of 2014 Pt. I; Pt. II
* Juan Rodriguez, Montreal Gazette - Sound of 2014: Juan Rodriguez's top picks
* Bret Saunders, Denver Post - A look back at the best releases of '14
* Richard Scheinin, San Jose Mercury News - Best of 2014: Our Top 10 jazz CDs
* John Sharpe, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2014
* Sean Smith, Tokyo Jazz Notes - Pick of 2014 - Albums of the Year
* Stewart Smith, Complete Communion (The Quietus) - Favoured Jazz Albums Of 2014
* Sorties Jazz Nights - 2014 TVJazz Best Of (International), 2014 TVJazz Best Of (Québec) & CDJazz Best Of
* Hank Shteamer, Dark Forces Swing Blind Punches - 2014 jazz top 10, plus
* Sputnik Music - Best Jazz Albums of 2014
* W. Royal Stokes, WRoyalStokes.com - Best & Notable New Releases 2014
* Mike Stratton, WLNZ - Top 12 Jazz Releases of 2014
* Dave Sumner, Bird is the Worm - Best of 2014; Albums 21-25;
* Derek Taylor, Dusted (in Exile) - Year End 2014
* The Telegraph (UK), Ivan Hewett and Martin Chilton - The 33 best jazz albums of 2014
* Larry Reni Thomas, WCOM-FM - Top Ten Jazz 2014
* Mark F. Turner, AllAboutJazz.com - Best of 2014
* George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune - 2014: The year in jazz concerts; The year in jazz albums & more
* Predrag Vlahovic, Jazzin.rs - The Best of 2014
* Seth Colter Walls, Rhapsody.com - Top 25 Jazz Albums of 2014; Top 50 Tracks of 2014
* WDCB - Faves: Top Five Jazz Discs in 2014
* Carol Banks Weber, AXS.com/Examiner.com - Top 15 jazzy vocal albums of 2014: Get ‘em while they’re hot!; Keeping jazz alive: Top 5 straight-ahead albums of 2014; Moving Jazz Albums of 2014: Shawn Maxwell’s Alliance leads pack
* Christopher R. Weingarten, Rolling Stone - 20 Best Avant Albums of 2014
* Michael J. West, Washington City Paper - The Jazzies: D.C.’s Best Jazz in 2014
* Jim Wilke, KPLU - Some Of The Best Northwest Jazz of 2014
* Richard Williams, The Blue Moment - 2014: the best bits
* Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Radio Arts Foundation - Jazz, dance had a very good year
* Alex Woodward, Gambit - The lists: New Orleans music in 2014
* Wondering Sound - Best Jazz Albums of 2014
* WQXR - 10 Imagination-Grabbing, Trailblazing Artists of 2014

Active scouting for more lists will continue for at least a couple more weeks, but your input is welcome, too. If you've seen any other 2014 year-end jazz lists that aren't mentioned here, please use the comments (or send me an email) to share the information. And if you like, please feel free also to use the comments to discuss your own favorite jazz releases, shows and moments of 2014.

Finally, if you want to re-visit StLJN's past "best of" list round-ups, here are the meta-lists for 2007 (parts 1 and 2), 2008 (parts 1 and 2), 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.

Updated 12/29/14 with six more lists. Updated 12/30/14 with seven more lists. Updated 12/31/14 with five more lists. Updated 1/1/15 with seven more lists. Updated 1/2/15 with eight more lists Updated 1/3/15 with eight more lists. Updated 1/4/15 with two more lists. Updated 1/5/15 with five more lists. Updated 1/8/15 with three more lists. Updated 1/11/15 with four more lists. Updated 1/14/15 with three more lists.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2015 jazz preview, part 2

Today, we continue with part two of StLJN's winter/spring 2015 jazz preview, this time covering musicians and groups who will be visiting St. Louis during the first part of February. (To see part 1, which covers January, go here.)

The month will begin with a series of performances featuring pianist Kenny Barron and vibraphonist Stefon Harris, starting Wednesday, February 4 and continuing through Saturday, February 7 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Though Barron and Harris have paired up before, this short clip featuring a Barron solo from the 2013 Marciac Jazz Festival seems to be the only video documentation online. So instead, we've got clips here featuring each of them individually. Barron can be heard up top with bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Carl Allen playing his composition "Cook's Bay" in October 2013 at the Jarasum International Jazz Festival in South Korea. Down below, Harris and his band, including Nic Payton on trumpet and David Sanchez on saxophone, perform "Ninety Miles" at the 2012 Copenhagen Jazz Festival.

After that, you can check out the No BS! Brass Band playing their version of Charles Mingus' "Haitian Fight Song" in August 2013 for the web series Audiotree Live. They'll be here in St. Louis on Sunday, February 8 to play at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Next up is saxophonist Branford Marsalis, who brings his band to St. Louis the very next evening (Monday, February 9) for a one-nighter at Jazz at the Bistro. Marsalis is seen here sitting in on a gig led by his pianist Joey Calderazzo this past summer at Pizza Express in London, in which the two of them plus bassist Orlando Le Fleming and drummer Donald Edwards take on "The Mighty Sword" from Marsalis' 2012 album Four MFs Playin' Tunes.

On Saturday, February 14, actors and cabaret singers Liz Callaway (the sister of longtime St. Louis favorite Ann Hampton Callaway) and Jason Graae will perform their show "Happily Ever Laughter: A Valentine's Party" at 560 Music Center for Washington University's "Ovations" series.

In addition to her live performances, Callaway over the years also has been the singing voice of a number of characters in animated movies, and here she can be seen in a audience-filmed clip from this past July performing "Journey to the Past" from the 1997 film Anastasia. That's followed by Graae singing "The Moment Has Passed," also filmed this past July as part of a tribute to Off-Broadway musicals staged in NYC by the indie label and production company Kritzerland.

Today's final video features keyboardist Jeff Lorber, who will bring his band featuring saxophonist Eric Marienthal and bassist Jimmy Haslip to St. Louis from Wednesday, February 18 through Saturday, February 21 to play at Jazz at the Bistro. They're seen here playing Lorber's song "Rain Dance" at a gig in June 2013 at Spaghettini in Los Angeles.

Look for part three of the winter/spring 2015 jazz preview here next week. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* The midtown music venue and restaurant Plush (pictured), which very occasionally featured jazz as part of its eclectic musical menu, will close on January 3.

In a story by Kevin Johnson in today's Post-Dispatch, the owner cites a lack of working capital and the loss of two key employees as reasons for the closing.

Most of the 2015 concerts already booked into Plush will be moved to 2720 Cherokee, except for the Zappa Plays Zappa show on April 20, which has yet to find a new venue. Watch this space for updates...

* You can get a close-up look at Clark Terry's 94th birthday celebration from earlier this month via this YouTube video.

* Also, Keep On Keepin' On, the recently release documentary film about Terry, is the subject of a feature story in Jazz Times.

* Jazz St. Louis' presentation this week of Duke Ellington's "Nutcracker" was featured on the morning news at local Fox affiliate KTVI (Channel 2).

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis' “Somethin’ Else,” host Calvin Wilson gets very artist-specific, focusing on the quartet recordings of saxophonist Joshua Redman, including those featuring supporting work from the likes of Christian McBride and Brad Mehldau. The program can be heard at 8:00 p.m. on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Happy holidays from St. Louis Jazz Notes!

 Wishing you and yours a cool Yule!

Jazz this week: Good 4 The Soul returns to the Bistro, Okoiucho, and more

The weeks of Christmas and New Year's Day usually are relatively slow for live jazz and creative music here in St. Louis, as most touring bands are off the road while many local musicians and venues also are enjoying a brief respite.

Still, once we get to the weekend, there are some shows of note around town, and so we're going to tell you about them right now....

Friday, December 26
In what's become an annual post-Christmas engagement, Good 4 The Soul will open a two-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro. Comprised of bassist John King, guitarist Sean Robinson, drummer James Jackson, and keyboardist Adaron "Pops" Jackson, G4TS (pictured, from left)) offers a mix of jazz, funk, and instrumental R&B with an occasional touches of gospel and pop, generally drawing an enthusiastic audience of hometown fans.

Also on Friday, singer Joe Mancuso fronts a quartet at Nathalie's; drummer Marty Morrison will be leading a quartet of his own at Cigar Inn, and guitarist Brian Vaccaro's trio will host a jam session at The Wolf in Ballwin.

Saturday, December 27
Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; trombonist/singer Doug Burns leads a quartet in concert at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton; and guitarist Tom Byrne will help ease potential withdrawal symptoms from holiday music with his "Yule Vibe" Trio at Thurman Grill.

Sunday, December 28
In addition to the usual array of Sunday brunch gigs - see the St. Louis Jazz Notes calendar for details - Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will be playing a late-afternoon matinee at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Monday, December 29
Guitarist/laptop musician Chris Smentkowski and bassist Darin Gray will reunite for another gig as Okoiucho, playing improvised soundtracks inspired by Polish short films, animations, and art at the Tavern of Fine Arts; and "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective return for their last monthly gig of the year at BB's.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra to headline 2015 Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival

The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra will headline the final night of the 12th annual Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, which will be held next year on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Led by drummer Jeff Hamilton, bassist John Clayton and his brother, saxophonist Jeff Clayton, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra (pictured) was formed in 1985. They've released six CDs, the most recent of which is 2005's Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra Live At MCG. Local jazz fans also may remember that John and Jeff Clayton performed here as The Clayton Brothers in 2010 at Jazz at the Bistro and in 2011 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

The GSLJF's Friday night concert will feature a band assembled especially for the occasion, fronted by saxophonist "Blue" Lou Marini, known for his work with the Blues Brothers, Blood Sweat & Tears, and the Saturday Night Live house band; trombonist Steve Wiest, a Grammy nominated composer/arranger and faculty member at the University of Denver; and Clay Jenkins, lead trumpeter for top big bands including Stan Kenton and the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra and professor at Eastman School of Music.

They'll be accompanied by a rhythm section comprised of two locals, drummer Montez Coleman and pianist Ken Kehner, plus bassist and jazz educator Lou Fischer.

The GSLJF also includes three days of educational activities, as student bands from Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Tennessee and Texas will participate in adjudicated performances and clinics, which include one-on-one sessions and critiques from visiting professionals.

In a couple of notable differences from past festivals, the March dates for the 2015 GSLJF are nearly a month earlier than when the event has been held in years past, during the third weekend in April. Also, the 2015 festival apparently will not include a Thursday night show at Jazz at the Bistro, which has been part of the event in recent years.

Both public concerts will start start at 8:00 p.m. and will feature the UMSL Jazz Ensemble, directed by Jim Widner, as opening act. The ticket on-sale date and prices will be announced in January.

Music Education Monday: Microphone basics, and some studio tips from Al Schmitt

This week's Music Education Monday is all about microphones, drawing inspiration from "In The Studio: Al Schmitt’s Microphone Approach," a recent article in Pro Sound News in which the veteran engineer and producer (whose credits include George Benson, Al Jarreau, Quincy Jones, Steely Dan, and many others) expounds on mic selection and techniques.

Schmitt's tips are useful, though, only if you already know the basics of how different types of microphones work, but fortunately, there are a number of readily available sources for that information.

Beginners might start with "Microphone Basics," a slideshow-as-PDF put together by the manufacturer Electro-Voice, which includes illustrations and offers a good quick overview of the subject.

Also worth a look: The mic manufacturer Shure has a useful section on their website covering pretty much the same topics in greater depth, plus some additional material about specific applications; and Recording magazine's "A Basic Mic Primer" offers an engineer's perspective not tied to particular company's product.

Those who prefer video to text (or wish to supplement the above) also may want to check out Shure's recently issued four-part series "Understanding Mic Specifications," which is embedded as a playlist below:

Miles on Monday: "Blue Xmas" and a career visualized

This week for "Miles on Monday," you can get an unusual overview of Davis' "Illustrious Jazz Career Visualized Like A Record," via the infographic depicted in shrunken form at left.

Created by the information-visualization firm Fathom, the same folks who made the interactive timeline of Davis' career that we linked to here a while back, the "Scaled in Miles" graphic depicts that career in poster form, diagramming 577 different musicians who collaborated with the trumpeter over 405 recording sessions.

Also, with Christmas coming this week, it's the right time of year for a listen to "Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern)," the seasonal song composed by Davis and singer Bob Dorough in 1962 and released that year as part of a Columbia Records Christmas jazz compilation. 

The lyrics by Dorough, best known these days for writing material for ABC's Schoolhouse Rock, offer a rather bleak view of the holidays, observing, "When you're blue at Xmas time, you see through all the waste / All the sham, all the haste, and plain old bad taste / It's a time when the greedy give a dime to the needy." 

This was the only time Davis ever worked with Dorough, though another track from the same recording session, "Nothing Like You" eventually was issued as part of Davis' 1967 album Sorcerer.  However, the session also proved to be the start of another, much more fruitful musical partnership, as it was the first time Davis recorded with saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who would be tapped as a member of the trumpeter's "Second Great Quintet" shortly thereafter.

Along with Davis, Dorough and Shorter, the song featured Davis' then-current rhythm section of bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb, along with guests Frank Rehak on trombone and Willie Correa on percussion. You can hear the audio recording in the embedded YouTube window below:

Sunday Session: December 21, 2014

John Coltrane

For your Sunday reading enjoyment and edification, some noteworthy news stories about jazz, creative music, and more from the past seven days:

* Barcelona Jazz Fest Hosts Redman, Marsalis in Historic Concert Hall (Down Beat)
* George Wein to Receive Recording Academy Trustees Award (Jazz Times)
* Antonio Sanchez's soaring beat takes flight in 'Birdman' (Los Angeles Times)
* Pérez, Blade, Patitucci To Headline 2015 Panama Jazz Festival (Down Beat)
* Family, Friends To Honor Haden at Memorial Concert in New York (Down Beat)
* How Vince Guaraldi Made Charlie Brown Cool (Medium.com)
* Deborah Brown: The Plastic Sax Person of the Year (Plastic Sax)
* The True Story of How Vinyl Spun Its Way Back From Near-Extinction (Billboard)
* 12 Amazing Things Scientists Discovered About Music This Year (Mic.com)
* Fifty years ago, John Coltrane and another fab four made music history with 'A Love Supreme' (Cleveland.com)
* Discover the Church of St. John Coltrane, Founded on the Divine Music of A Love Supreme (OpenCulture.com)
* Did Coltrane say 'Allah Supreme'? (AlJazeera.com)
* Billy Berg: Los Angeles' Jazz Nightlife Ace (KCET.org)
* Solving the 70-year mystery of Glenn Miller's death (Examiner.com)
* Chance discovery casts new light on origins of polyphonic music (The Guardian)
* Book review: On Highway 61: Music, Race and the Evolution of Cultural Freedom (AllAboutJazz.com)
* George Shearing's Holiday Set On Piano Jazz (NPR.org)
* A Jazz Piano Christmas (NPR.org)

Also, we remember the superb pianist and former St. Louisan John Hicks, born on this day in 1941:

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2015 jazz preview

Today, it's the first part of StLJN's winter/spring 2015 jazz preview, in which we bring you music videos from jazz and creative music performers who will be visiting our city in the first part of next year.

First up are The Bad Plus, who will be back in St. Louis from Wednesday, January 7 through Saturday, January 10 to play at Jazz at the Bistro. The group has been visiting the Bistro early in January for nearly a decade now, and since their last trip here, they've put out a new recording of all original music, Inevitable Western. In the video up above, you can see them playing a song from that album, "Gold Prisms Incorporated," during a gig in September at the Blue Note in Milano, Italy.

After the jump, you'll see the Stooges Brass Band playing "Hot." They'll be in town on Thursday, January 15 at the Broadway Oyster Bar; the video was recorded in July of this year in New Orleans for the web series "Jam in the Van."

Below that you can see their fellow New Orleanians Bonerama, who will be here the very next night, Friday, January 16, also at the Broadway Oyster Bar. The clip is an audience-shot video of them performing "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do" last month at the Cutting Room in NYC.

That same weekend, the Bistro will feature a band being billed as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Group, an ad hoc assemblage made up of musicians doing week-long educational residencies for Jazz St. Louis that will culminate in public performances on Friday, January 16 and Saturday, January 17. The front line features two familiar faces, trumpeter Terell Stafford and saxophonist/clarinetist Victor Goines - both of whom have fronted their own bands here - along with trombonist Chris Crenshaw, with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra drummer Alvin Atkinson quarterbacking the rhythm section with a bassist and pianist TBA.

In the fourth clip, you can see Stafford performing a very nice version of Billy Strayhorn's "Day Dream" at the 2013 International Trumpet Guild convention, backed by pianist Bruce Barth. Below that, there's a clip of Goines working out on his composition "Turning Points" during a 2011 gig with pianist Aaron Diehl, bassist Phillip Kuehn, and drummer Marion Felder. Crenshaw is represented by a clip compiling excerpts from a concert for a Smithsonian traveling exhibit that the trombonist played in March 2013 in his hometown of Thomson, GA; the rhythm section is Josef Patchen (keyboard), Travis Shaw (bass), and Edwin G. Hamilton (drums).

Today's final video features the Arturo O'Farrill Sextet, who will visit St. Louis Wednesday, January 21 through Saturday, January 24 to play at Jazz at the Bistro. O'Farrill, a pianist, composer/arranger and son of the famous bandleader Chico O'Farrill, was here a decade ago with his Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra to play the long-defunct St. Louis Jazz Festival in Clayton, but this will be his first visit here since. To get an idea of what to expect, check out the video of O'Farrill's octet recorded in September 2013 for an NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert.

Look for the second part of StLJN's winter/spring 2015 jazz preview in this space next week. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

Stooges Brass Band, No BS! Brass Band set for shows at Broadway Oyster Bar

The Broadway Oyster Bar, home to monthly gigs from the Funky Butt Brass Band and frequent host to various New Orleans acts, has booked two more brass bands for gigs early next year.

New Orleans' Stooges Brass Band (pictured) will return to St. Louis to play the BOB on Thursday, January 15, while the No BS! Brass Band , an eleven-piece group based in Richmond, VA, will perform on Sunday, February 8.

The Stooges have played in St. Louis before, most recently in August of this year at the Oyster Bar, but as best as we can tell, this will be the first local show for the No BS! Brass Band. (We'll have videos of both groups in StLJN's winter/spring 2015 jazz preview, which starts tomorrow.)

Admission for the Stooges Brass Band will be $10 at the door. There's no ticket price for the No BS! Brass Band listed yet on either the Broadway Oyster Bar site or the Facebook page for the event, but given the BOB's usual pricing, it likely will be the same or similar.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* The Funky Butt Brass Band has released online a new song, "Because It's Christmas." Proceeds from the sale of downloads of the tune will benefit Music for Lifelong Achievement, a St. Louis not-for-profit organization that collects and refurbishes used musical instruments and then distributes them to local students in need.

* Also just in time for Christmas, trumpeter Jeremy Davenport, who grew up in U City and now lives in New Orleans, made a music video of "Silent Night" as one of a series of holiday songs sponsored by the New Orleans Times-Picayune

* St. Louis native Andre Boyd (pictured), who's been drumming for Cirque du Soleil's touring production Quidam for the past four years, is number six on the UK drum magazine Rhythm's list of the "10 best new drummers in the world right now."

* Vintage Vinyl was featured on the vinyl-record enthusiast website Cooking With Vinyl.

* Jazz St. Louis is looking for feedback from patrons who have visited the remodeled Jazz at the Bistro this fall. If you'd like to weigh in with your opinion of the new digs, you can complete the online survey here.

* Photos of Clark Terry's 94th birthday celebration this past weekend have been posted to the trumpeter's official Facebook page.

* Also posted to Facebook, a photo album from new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound's performance last week at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis' “Somethin’ Else,” host Calvin Wilson will present jazz recordings dealing with issues of social injustice from Billie Holiday, Ben Allison, Wallace Roney, and more. The program can be heard at 8:00 p.m. on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Edited after posting to add the Jeremy Davenport link. 

Jazz this week: Roy Hargrove, "Holiday Brasstravaganza," Ellington's "Nutcracker,"a big band murder mystery, and more

For this last week before Christmas, the calendar of jazz and creative music performances in and around St. Louis features the long-overdue return of a top touring trumpeter, plus several holiday-themed shows and some other special presentations from local performers. Let's go to the highlights....

Wednesday, December 17
Trumpeter Roy Hargrove returns to Jazz at the Bistro to begin his first St. Louis gig as a leader in more than a decade.

When he last played here, Hargrove (pictured) already had recorded several well-regarded albums of hard-bop-inspired sounds and was tagged as a rising star. Since then, he's gained a good deal of additional recognition for leading groups influenced by Latin-jazz (the Grammy-winning Crisol) and funk (RH Factor), but during his four nights in St. Louis, Hargrove will be fronting a quintet playing in a more straight-ahead style.

For more about what Hargrove's been up to, and some video samples of his quintet performing earlier this year on tour in Europe, see this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Also on Wednesday, singer Tony Viviano presents his "Christmas in St. Louis" show at Vito's in the Valley; the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra plays at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company; Cabaret Project St. Louis will hold their monthly "Open Mic Night" at the Tavern of Fine Arts: and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play at The Feasting Fox.

Thursday, December 18
Miss Jubilee plays an early show at the Blues City Deli; guitarist Tom Byrne and singer Erika Johnson will pair up at Evangeline's; and guitarist Dave Black will be joined by a rhythm section and guest vocalist at Nathalie’s.

Friday, December 19
The Funky Butt Brass Band will present the first of two nights of their sixth annual "Holiday Brasstravaganza" at Off Broadway, featuring a long list of guest performers and various seasonal hijinks.

Also on Friday, the St. Louis Big Band adds a theatrical element to their usual program of danceable swing and pop, staging an retro-themed, audience-participation "murder mystery" at Casa Loma Ballroom; and singer and multi-instrumentalist Alan Ox pays tribute to Ol' Blue Eyes with his show "Straight-Up, A Shot of Sinatra" at the Sheldon Concert Hall, backed by pianist  Dave Venn, drummer Miles Vandiver, bassist Dave Troncoso, and Dave Black on guitar.

Saturday, December 20
Trumpeter Jim Manley duets with guitarist Randy Bahr at One 19 North Tapas and Wine Bar.

Sunday, December 21
The Ambassadors of Swing perform at Southminster Presbyterian Church, 10126 E Watson; and BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups has a double bill with singer/guitarist Tommy Halloran playing the matinee, and percussionist Joe Pastor and the Legacy Jazz Band taking the night shift.

Monday, December 22
The Jazz St. Louis Big Band, stocked with many alumni of the jazz program at SIUE, will present Duke Ellington’s famous arrangement of Tchaikovsky's “Nutcracker” along with other selected Ellington favorites at Jazz at the Bistro. The show is one set only, but if you can't make it on Monday, you should know that the program also will be repeated on Tuesday.. The program repeats on Tuesday, and while tickets for the first sets are nearly sold out, there are seats remaining for the second sets on both nights.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Music Education Monday: A Benny Golson master class, and the Saxophone Museum

This week, Music Education Monday is all about the saxophone, starting with a master class from the veteran saxophonist and composer and former Jazz Messenger Benny Golson.

In the first video below, Golson, writer of well-known tunes such as "Killer Joe," "Whisper Not," and "Along Came Betty," discusses his career with author Tom Piazza as part of a master class held in 2005 at Loyola University in New Orleans. In the second video, Golson gives a performance of "Along Came Betty" and discusses how he wrote the song.

In between videos, you might want to take a break for a virtual visit to the Saxquest Saxophone Museum. While the museum is located physically right here in St. Louis inside the Saxquest shop, you can see photosets online detailing many of the vintage instruments in the collection, including the 1921 King saxello pictured in this post as well as saxes made by Selmer, Buescher, Conn, Grafton, Keilwerth, LeBlanc, Martin, and even a couple of 19th century instruments from Adolphe Sax himself.